How Do I Use Armatures , I cannot get them to work with my meshes
The easiest way is to parent the mesh to the armature with Automatic Weights, and then adjust the weights later on:


Select the mesh (Object Mode), and then select the armature
CtrlP, and then select 'Automatic weights'. Now Blender assigned weights to the mesh and parented them to the bones of the armature, depending on how the bones and mesh are relatively located.


To modify the weights:


You could select the armature and enter 'pose mode', by CtrlTab
Then you select the mesh and enter 'Weight paint mode', by CtrlTab. Now you can select a bone, while you can edit the weight paints of the mesh using the brush